Firstly, the thrills. And boy do we have a jaw-some story from Team Beyond, who had a frightening encounter with a 7 foot shark! It seems the predator had taken an interest in their bright orange rudder. Daley was able to distract the shark, although he continued to zig zag under their boat for a few seconds, before disappearing as quickly as he’d appeared. The pair also reported several Dorado’s following their boat a while later, and suspect they may have barnacles on their boat which is attracting the wildlife. Barnacles need to be cleaned off regularly as they can slow the boat. Unfortunately for Philip, it’s his turn to perform this chore! Luckily he has an ace up his sleeve for keeping the sharks at bay. Read more on that here.

Solo rower Callum from Persil Atlantic Waterbabies has managed to take time out from rowing and fixing the hole in his boat to sum up his last week or so. His near-miss with a very large cargo ship makes for a thrilling read! Callum is currently 4th out of the solo rowers, and 19th in all boats. He is progressing very well with almost 1000 NM now behind him, and knowing that it would now take longer to row back to La Gomera than it would be to get to Antigua (due to the wind direction) is motivating him. Read more about his highlights, unexpected events and emotions here.

And here are the swills. Did you know that regular soap doesn’t lather in salt water? You have to use a special salt water soap to wash your hair and body. Luckily, Caitlin and George of The Cranial Questwere given a generous donation from “Sailor Soap”, which can also be used to clean dishes. Packing for up to 3 months on a small boat holding two people means limited supplies, so anything that helps in multi-tasking is a winner for our fleet. Read more on the importance of cleaning habits on The Cranial Quest Facebook page.

Atlantic Lionshave experienced rain for the first time in several days, and are describing the conditions simply as “wet”. They do however welcome the rain as it provides them with the opportunity have “the most natural and wild shower imaginable”, and the rains bring with them some unbelievable rainbows.